Home Allergen Test
Home Allergen Test Kits
With outdoor pollution on the rise an environmental concerns mount, we expect our homes and offices to be a safe haven with clean, fresh air to breathe. The sad reality is that much of the indoor air we breathe is often even more polluted than the air outside. Home allergen tests are a recommended first step to solving the problem.
Indoor Allergen Sources & Symptoms
Many people suffer from constant cold-like or allergy-like symptoms in their homes, not realizing that the culprit may be allergens present in their home or workplace.
Indoor allergens can come from a surprising variety of sources, including well known causes, such as pets and pollen, but also from more subtle sources such as hidden mold or chemicals from common household cleaners.
One study by the Indoor Environment Group of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (funded by the EPA) reports that “a high frequency of using spray products during household cleaning (especially glass-cleaning and furniture sprays and air freshening sprays) was associated with a 40% increase in wheeze, a 50% increase in asthma symptoms or medication use, and approximately a 100% increase in incidence in physician-diagnosed asthma”.
Yes, the potential health effects associated with common household items are not to be underestimated. Beyond that, indoor contaminants can also come from the outside in. For example, nearby neighborhood construction projects could be producing pollutants that make their way into your home. Lack of maintenance on ventilation systems in your home (i.e. regularly replacing air filters) can also lead to poor indoor air quality.
Pro Home Allergen Testing and VOC Tests
Don’t allow the presence of pet dander, mold, dust mites and chemicals make you suffer in your own home. With the majority of our lives spent inside our homes and offices, taking steps to insure high quality indoor air is crucial to health and well-being.
Air Quality Consultants combine high-tech air testing technology with decades of experience to deliver you the most professional and comprehensive results possible. We will help you determine if your air is healthy to breathe, what contaminants are present, and what you can do to improve the quality of the air in your home, office, school, or other indoor space.
With our home allergen tests come detailed diagnostic reports that will measure the concentration of pollutants that have been detected in your air. Once testing has been completed, expert AQC team will work with you to help you find solutions that will eliminate the sources of the allergens and volatile organic compounds in your air that have been making you miserable. You will be amazed at the impact that breathing clean air can make on your overall health.
When most people think of ‘allergen testing’, they immediately imagine an uncomfortable visit to the doctor’s office with skin pricks from needles, with hopes that the doc can tell them what they are allergic to.
Don’t worry: Our indoor air allergen testing doesn’t involve any skin pricks or scratches!
Actually, we aren’t testing for what allergens are present. We are testing for how many allergens are present. It’s nearly impossible to eliminate all allergens from a home. What matters is controlling the quantity. That is what our testing process can help with.
An indoor air quality test from Air Quality Consultants Inc. will help you detect the level of potentially allergenic particulates in your indoor air. The test won’t reveal what the source of the allergen is, but rather quantify the concentration of allergenic particles, revealing whether or not there are any abnormalities that need to be addressed. We use our ultra-sensitive equipment to measure the quantity of unseen particles in your air that could be posing a danger to your lungs.
Our professional air quality testing team can help you hunt down what volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in your home may be causing your symptoms, whether it be Formaldehyde, Carbon Monoxide, Petroleum or something else.
According to the EPA “Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands.”
These potentially harmful gases or vapors can come from a large variety of indoor sources (even from common household cleaners, personal care products, and furniture) and can have an adverse impact on human health.
A VOC test can only be made for one specific chemical at a time. That is why before the test is run, we make a thorough inspection of the area, and draw on our experience to narrow down what specific VOCs may be threatening your indoor air quality.
For example, if your home is located next to a salon, we know what kinds of chemical might be bothering you. Whatever the scenario in your home, our professional air quality inspection will help determine what chemicals could be present. The test will then reveal the level of concentration, helping gauge the threat level. These two pieces of data together can help you take the necessary measures to remove those chemicals or lower your exposure so as to protect your health.
NO MORE GUESSWORK, WE USE SCIENTIFIC FACT
Insurance industry protocol has mandated that mold remediation require an independent 3rd party testing company to include pre-remediation levels of mold and post remediation clearance.
Professional Indoor Allergen Test
DIY Home Air Test Kits are increasingly available and super convenient to buy on Amazon and have shipped to your doorstep. Besides, who wants to go through hiring a professional, if you can do it yourself for cheaper? We get it.
BERORE you hit ‘check out’ on the DIY air quality test kit in your cart, here are some facts that might influence your decision.
In a report on the dangers of mold, Consumer Reports“recommends against using mold test kits.” They add that “All those we’ve tested have had major problems and are not reliable.”
Many DIY air test kits have been found to provide false positives and inaccurate results. This causes unnecessary worry and could lead you to throw money and time down the drain trying to clean up non-issues.
Opting for an at home DIY allergen test kit to diagnose your air quality issues may be the cheapest solution. However, if the test does reveal pollutants in your air, you’ll likely need professional advice on what your next step should be. A DIY air quality test kit simply cannot provide you with reliable advice on optional solutions backed by years of experience.
Hire certified, professional Air Quality Consultants who have the tools, the know-how, and the human touch it takes to get the job done right without wasting time or money.
A number of the allergens you see listed above are well known, such as pet dander or pollen. Others, however, seem to fly under the radar while having the potential to cause a host of health problems.
Bacteria may be thriving in places we least suspect. Some research has shown that our pillowcases to be just as contaminated as our toilet seats. Yes, bedding, furniture and carpeting tends to absorb all of the ugly microbes floating around in our homes.
We can help you learn more about allergens and how you can succeed in eliminating them from your air.
Our homes may be hosting a wide variety of potentially harmful allergens without our knowledge. Since many of these pollutants are unseen, we may suffer the symptoms yet not connect them in our minds to indoor contaminants.
Countless Americans view beloved pets as full-fledged family members. Having pets is a wonderful, bright spot in the day. However, pet owners must be vigilant when it comes to controlling pet dander.
The American Lung Association explains “Pet allergens are very light weight and small. They remain suspended in the air for a long time, much longer than allergens from cockroaches or dust mites. Because of their microscopic size and jagged shape, pet allergens easily stick to furniture, bedding, fabrics and many items carried into and out of the home.”
Taking steps to identify and control sources of allergens in our homes is a simple key to breathing fresh air and achieving a more healthful environment.
Many allergens that are found in the air are smaller than bacteria and thus undetectable by the human eye. Most home air test kits cannot reliably reveal all allergens present in a home.
Our professional air testing equipment will detect even the smallest particles in your air, helping you to identify if they are possible causes of your ongoing allergy and cold-like symptoms.
Contact us today for your air quality testing. We will schedule you an appointment, arrive on time, and perform our testing which includes a thorough inspection of your home or office. We will use top-of-the-line equipment to test your air, taking multiple measurements from different rooms in your house to ensure accuracy.
When we have finished your air quality test, we will provide a detailed report from the laboratory and discuss with you what the results actually mean. Once we have determined the level of particulates in your air, we will happily offer you ideas for solutions on how to eliminate excessive allergenic particulates!
